Method of preserving cereals.



j UNITED Status l t/tann r wri ten,

HENRY D. WINTON, OF WVELLESLEY HILLS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF TO FRANCIS (J. HERSEY, OF WELLESLEY HILLS, MASSA- CHUSETTS.

CEREALSt SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 713,582, datedNovember 1 1, 1902 Application filed July 14, 1902. Serial 15o. 115.58l. (llo specimens.)

To all'whom it Be it known that" HENRYD. WINTON,

a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Wellesley Hills,in thecountyof Norfolk and into cakes or packages; but none of the processes hasproved eflicieut, or, it eflicient in some respects, the processes havefailed in others, so that the products were not marketable. i

By my improved process I am enabled not only to treat thecerealslnazsimpie and etfectual Way, but I amenabled to put the foodinto a marketable condition by which it is preserved in a perfectlyclean, wholesome, palatable, and attractive form ml in a mannor to bestprotect it against p trefaction of organisms.

My method or process, together with the various modifications of it, maybe explained as follows: The stages of the process consist infirst-cleaning the natural or uncooked cereal after it has been crushedor ground to the desired granulation by passing it through a machinewhich removes all dust and dirt; then more thoroughly purifying thecereal and protecting it by sterilization and antiseptic treatment bypassing the same through an oven to raise the temperature of the crushedcereal to a degree that will destroy any forms of bacteria that mayexist in it and at the same time introducing into the oven fumes.

of sulfur or salt, or' both, to act as an antiseptic treatment andincidentallyto whiten and improve the appearcpce cft,the cereal food;then passing it through astirring-machine, which thoroughly stirs thegranulated product While asmall amountof syrup composed of sugar andwater is being fed to it, so that each particle by the action of thestirring is coated with a film of this syrup; then feeding the moistenedgranulated product to' the hopper of a molding-machine,whichautomatically compresses it into small cubes, blocks, or tablets anddelivers them upon suitable plates which are placed in heated ovens, andwhen thoroughly dried removing these blocks or tablets from the ovensand packing them in suitable boxes or cartons for the market.

The purpose of each of the stepsrof the process is first to cleanse thecrushed cereal of all (1 net and dirt, which carries bacteria orimpurity, and then by passing it through an oven or heater at the propertemperature destroy living bacteria or germs that existjn the crushedcereal as far as possible, and then by the introduction of the fumes ofan antiseptic agent proteet it against the action of putrefaction, andby the use of sulfur or salt, or both, a bleaching action of the crushedcereal may be had towhiten it and give it a cleanly appearance.

In further elaboration of this process after having put the crushedcereal in as wholesome condition, possible I mix it with a syrupofsugar, which is preferably dissolved ln'col'cl water, or, at an rate,which is not a cooked. syrup, which s ould be of a gage of 3O" Baumscale. character of the cereal to be treated and the This depends uponthe character of the granulation, a greater or less quantity being usedand of more or less density, according to the product which is beingtreated. The syrup acts to coat each gran'u a mass, thus leaving thefinished block of crushed cereal as entirely protected as possible, andwhen packed closely together in bozies it is thoroughly protectedagainst deterioration by the action of germs and putr'efaction of .thesame and also against-danger of molding or souring, being free frommoisture and protected from atmospheric conditions which would otherwiseact to destroy it. Further, the cereals so treated retain their naturalappearance, as the coating with the syrup does not soak pt meptibly intothe particles, so that the fiber is liable to be broken or crushed downunder pressure, but the cereal retains its granulated appearance in theblocks or tablets, and on the evaporation of the water of the syrupthere is no gloss or pasty appearance givento the product, but it hasall the desirable treatment for protec- 9 tion, while, its appeal-PaceI.) not .u any way deteriorated.

In the treatment of cereals by this process I may vary the stagessomewhat according to the character of the cereal to be operated 5 upon,and I may leave out some of the steps or stages. For instance, I may,instead of introducing the antiseptic or bleaching v1' umes, leave outthis step, or I may, for instance, add to the syrup solution some agenthaving anti- 0 septic -qualities, or I may in lieu of this treat theblocks during the process of drying to the fumes of an antiseptic agentor a bleaching agent by introducing such agent into the heated airpassing through the ovens, or I .5 may leave out of the process the stepof heating the crushed cereal before it'is pressed into blocks andattain this object by using a f-high temperature in thefinal drying, theobject of my invention being more particularly to subject the cereal tostages of treatment, fully or partially, which afford the very bestprotection for the cereal against deterioration. Any adhesive andreserving fluid having the characteristics of the syrup of sugar may besubstituted therefor. There are some cereals which have been partiallytreated by heat, so that they are not entirely uncooked; but for thepurposes of this invent1on or discovery they may be considered sub.-stantially uncooked fonds.

It should be understood that the inventionherein described relates onlyto the treatment of the forms of cereals now commonly used for food andthat the purpose of the invention is not in any way to change the shapeof the granules of such cereals or their properties when cooked, bitsimply to preserve their present qualities in a more permanent way byaffording a protection against such destructive tendencies as they arenow subject to. To this end the cereal as ordinarily prepared for themarket is subjected to antisepsis, first, by a thorough cleansing, thenby subjecting the same to the fumes ofan antiseptic material at a hightem perature,and then incasing or sealing each granule of the cerealwith a thin antiseptic coating, (and I prefer for this purpose that amaterial be used which. shall alsr act to bind or tie together thegranules in the form of a block and which shall be made hard andnon-adhesive by heat.) It is not intended that the substance used forthis purpose shall in any way affect the quail y or Flavor of thecereals when cooked. It is applied to the granules in very thin filmsand while in a warm and moist condition, and the granules thus providedwith thin films are combined together by light pressure while they arestill warm and moist, and this is done without fracturing or opening theindividual films or coatings or crushing the granules. The antisepticcoating is then hardened and made absolutely non-adhesive by subjectingthe block to a drying influence, preferably in an oven. The degree ofthe coating applied to the granules is of, the slightest It is notsufficient to sweeten the cooked cereal. Itis not even su Eficient tocause the granules to adhere together without the use at a mildpressure, and it would be of ne value as a binding agent were it notcapable of being hardened by drying.

Having thus fully described myinvention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States- 1. The herein-described method oftreating cereal foods, for preserving same, such method comprising thefollowing steps: subjecting the granulated cereal to the fumes of anantiseptic material at a high temperature, mixing with the granulatedcereal a thin sugar-syrup while the said granulated cereal is beingrapidly agitatedior the purpose of coating the granules,cor0.pressingthe coated granules into blocks, and subjecting the said blocks to ahigh temperature for the purpose ot drying the same.

'2. The herein-described method of treating cereal foods, l'orpreserving same, such method comprising the following steps: thoroughlycleansing the granulated cereal, subjecting the same to the fumes of anantiseptic material at a high temperature, mixing with the granulatedcereal a thin sugar-syrup while the said granulated cereal is beingrapidly agitated, for the purpose of coatingthe granules, compressingthe coated granules into blocks, and subjecting the said blocks to ahigh temperature for the purpose of drying the same.

HENRY D. WINTON.

Witnesses:

F. F. RAYMOND, 2d,

3. M. DOLAN.

